White, Red, and Black
by KitCat Italica
Summary: Only three people tethered Bruce to fragile sanity. And the Joker plans to dispose of them all. Even himself. Contains multiple character deaths, hinted pre-slash B/J, and an attempt at poetry.


White, Red, and Black

Smoke and ashes  
Stain the sky  
A midnight warrior  
Returns home  
Broken, hollow  
Treading in denial  
Trying to sear  
The image of bone  
Knuckle-white, choked in grime  
Stark against the rubble  
Of Her new grave  
From his burning eyes

Into his domain  
He lurks, unknowingly  
Into his trap

Silent and steeling  
Against memory's void  
Screens blaring headlines  
Montage of disaster  
He shuts them off  
Swallowing images in black  
If only it were all that easy.

White sets the stage.

Weary from death  
He marches on  
Elevator ride  
Eerily creeping  
Inching towards  
The faithful butler  
His veil from the world  
Filtering murk  
Leaving only truth  
Biting, stinging  
But truth.  
All he has left.

Doors part open

The veil is rent.

Faith bleeding out through gash of red  
Scarlet smear on suited chest  
Knife hacks clear in moonlit black  
Glistening against orbs unseeing  
Scream preserved on pleading lips  
Glasses trapeze on severed ear  
Faith unwavering against the storm,  
Smothered under bloody shroud

Eyes meet eyes  
Dead ones piercing  
Stealing the life of his  
Bone of white, stain of red  
All he now glimpses  
Through the dark nothing  
Closing around him

Red scars the mind.

One which notices  
Looks to him  
Flash of silver  
Dripping scarlet  
Smile cracked over  
Stretching upon seeing  
Knight's bare, confirming face

Mephistopheles pinpricks  
Illuminate green  
Spheres of death  
Malice, cunning,  
Spite  
Shining through

Into the folds  
Killer reaches in  
Revealing final tool  
Of the deathly trinity:  
Oil, Blade,  
Bullet  
Completes the set

Goal in sight  
Watching the hero's  
Fragile mind shaking  
On one last leg

One final hope

Darkest of dreams  
Perversely craved  
To no one's knowledge  
But his  
Glaring obvious  
In his wide eyes  
Unbreakable lust  
Need beyond death  
Mindless, consuming  
But there  
To be twisted

Gunshaft travels  
Climbing the green  
To the side of the  
Mad emerald hill  
Eyes shining brightest  
Before his chosen end

Light switches on  
In warrior's mind  
Crashing over, flooding through  
Intention brought to light  
Fear jolting  
Senses screaming  
PANIC PEAKING

Shot.

Black covers vision.

Lightbulb cracks.

Bone of white, stain of red  
Now bullet black  
Three colors of madness  
Shattering two minds with one trigger

One in gleeful death

The other in living hell

* * *

**Thus concludes my first dabbling in poetry. I wrote this a while ago, and was going to get a beta on it, but just now plucked up the balls to go ahead and post it. Poetry, as you can tell, ain't my forte, but this idea (inspired from the first 40 seconds of the song "Isengard Unleashed" from The Two Towers soundtrack) was just too powerful for me to pass up. Since the idea speaks in images and emotions, I wanted to try out poetry to see if it would create the more abstract effect I was going for. Did it work, or not so much? Please let me know. I'd love some feedback on this one, good or bad.**

**If you didn't get it, it's basically this: Joker realized during the car chase that Batman couldn't be Harvey Dent, and the only logical person left who cares for Rachel and fits the bill of Batman is Bruce Wayne. Thus, once escaping the MCU, he sneaks to Bruce's penthouse and stabs Alfred to death for Bruce to find when he returns from the scene of Rachel's death. The dream of his happily ever after with Rachel gone, along with his facade of a normal existence with Alfred gone, leaves Bruce's sanity hanging by a thread (he wasn't the most sane of people to begin with: the guy wears ears after all). However, he has always held onto this image of him being with Joker, and Joker of course picks up on his undercurrent of lust. Therefore he enacts the final blow against his enemy...with his own death. He leaves Bruce with absolutely NO ONE to exist for, and Bruce basically goes crazy.**

**Because Joker's just sadistically, ingeniously cruel like that. **

**I guess there's always Riddler...jkjk, just a little inside joke from one of my other fics-in-progress. xD**

**Oh, and a big thank-you to skyspireskit3 for telling me how to keep lines spaced together properly. I would now be a blubbering mess in the corner, sucking my thumb in the fetal position without your help. ^.^ I now realize the answer to my question exists in the lower right-hand corner of the window I'm typing in...oops...xP**


End file.
